Art'an uji

Art'an uji, called Ardanuç in Turkish, is a mountain town in the Çoruh valley of northeastern Anatolia. Its name combines Laz and Armenian elements, reflecting a borderland of Georgian, Armenian, Laz and Turkish communities. The town stands where three streams meet below Yalnızçam Mountain, with the broader district rising toward high pastures and the Çadır range.

The castle was built in the fifth century under the Georgian king Vakhtang Gorgasali and later withstood an Umayyad siege in 744. Ashot I Bagrationi restored the fortress and made the town a centre of the Georgian kingdom of Tao-Klarjeti. Its position on a rocky spur above the valley made it difficult to approach, and the fortress controlled roads between the Black Sea, Armenia and the Anatolian plateau.

During the medieval and later period, Georgian princes, Anatolian beyliks and Mongol armies contested the region. Süleyman the Magnificent brought Art'an uji under Ottoman rule in 1551 after another siege. The surrounding villages combined grain farming, orchards and highland pastoralism, while the town served as a market and administrative centre. Mountain routes and the Bagratid castle gave the small settlement strategic value far beyond its size.